Nixon White House tapes: Difference between revisions

Sirica, acting on a request from Jaworski, issued a subpoena for the tapes of 64 presidential conversations to use as evidence in the criminal cases against indicted former Nixon administration officials. Nixon refused, and Jaworski appealed to the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] to force Nixon to turn over the tapes. On July 24, 1974, the Supreme Court [[United States v. Nixon|ordered]] Nixon to release the tapes.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/court-orders-nixon-to-yield-tapes-president-promises-to-comply-fully/2012/06/04/gJQAZSw0IV_story.html|title=Court Orders Nixon to Yield Tapes; President Promises to Comply Fully|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=December 30, 2016|archive-date=March 14, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170314072025/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/court-orders-nixon-to-yield-tapes-president-promises-to-comply-fully/2012/06/04/gJQAZSw0IV_story.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The 8–0 ruling (Justice [[William Rehnquist]] recused himself because he had worked for attorney general [[John N. Mitchell]]) in ''[[United States v. Nixon]]'' found that President Nixon was incorrect in arguing that courts are compelled to honor, without question, any presidential claim of executive privilege.<ref name=":0" />

 

The White House released the subpoenaed tapes on August 5. One tape, later known as the "[[Smoking Gun (Watergate)|Smoking Gun]]" tape, documented the initial stages of the Watergate coverup. On it, Nixon and Haldeman are heard formulating a plan to block investigations by having the CIA falsely claim to the FBI that national security was involved.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kopel |first=David |date=June 16, 2014 |title=The missing 18 1/2 minutes: Presidential destruction of incriminating evidence |language=en-US |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/06/16/the-missing-18-12-minutes-presidential-destruction-of-incriminating-evidence/ |access-date=2022-12-06 |issn=0190-8286 |archive-date=March 23, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230323014311/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/volokh-conspiracy/wp/2014/06/16/the-missing-18-12-minutes-presidential-destruction-of-incriminating-evidence/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Glass |first=Andrew |date=August 5, 2018 |title=Watergate 'smoking gun' tape released, Aug. 5, 1974 |url=https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/05/watergate-smoking-gun-tape-released-aug-5-1974-753086 |access-date=2022-12-06 |website=Politico |language=en |archive-date=December 6, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206050908/https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/05/watergate-smoking-gun-tape-released-aug-5-1974-753086 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Martin |first=Andrew |date=2017-05-16 |title=The Smoking Gun That Took Down Nixon: One From the History Books |language=en |work=Bloomberg.com |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-05-16/the-smoking-gun-that-took-down-nixon-one-from-the-history-books |url-access=subscription |access-date=2022-12-06 |archive-date=November 12, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112011845/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-05-16/the-smoking-gun-that-took-down-nixon-one-from-the-history-books |url-status=live }}</ref> This demonstrated both that Nixon had been told of the White House connection to the Watergate burglaries soon after they took place, and that he had approved plans to thwart the investigation. In a statement accompanying the release of the tape, Nixon accepted blame for misleading the country about when he had been told of White House involvement, stating that he had a lapse of memory.<ref>{{cite book| last=Ambrose| first=Stephen E.| author-link=Stephen E. Ambrose| year=1991| title=Nixon: Ruin and Recovery 1973–1990| publisher=Simon & Schuster| location=New York| isbn=978-0-671-69188-2| pages=414–416}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| author=<!--staff; no by-line.-->| agency=[[Associated Press|AP]]| title=Refusal-to-Resign Speech Was Prepared for Nixon| url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/nixon/stories/nixon121696ap.htm| date=December 16, 1996| newspaper=The Washington Post| access-date=December 5, 2019| archive-date=February 6, 2020| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200206154159/https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/nixon/stories/nixon121696ap.htm| url-status=live}}</ref>